


My Ka'rta and My Kot

by SerStolas



Series: Heart, Blood, and Blasters [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars The Old Republic KOTFE, Star Wars the Old Republic - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9500654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: Set in Chapter 14 of SWTOR: KOTFE.  Torian Cadera and Kandakke Lok Cadera finally get their long hoped for reunion.Crossposted on DeviantArt.Mando'a taken from Wookieepedia - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mando'aI am a complete sap for reunion fics.





	1. Chapter 1

Torian rose early, little reason to remain in bed when his _riduur_ no longer lay curled in his arms. He'd awoken alone every morning for more than five years now, and some of his brothers had tried to convince him to move on. He still had a clan to rebuild, and having children in the middle of war wasn't unheard of.

Somewhere in his heart, he refused to give up hope that he might someday be reunited with her, no matter how slim that chance might be.

Torian finished putting on his armor and slung his blaster rifle over his shoulder, checked that his pistols were easy to draw, and headed out into the already blistering morning. The sun had only just risen, but it already chased off whatever relief from the heat that the night brought. He'd never liked desert planets, but when Mandalore called, you answered, no matter how you felt about the terrain.

Mandalore had called the clans they could rally together to pulverize a factory, at the behest of the “Outlander” he'd been hearing rumors of over the past few months. It was a chance for the Clans to rearm and actually make a stand, rather than fighting on the run the way they'd been for years now. 

He hailed some of those he passed on his way to the mess, ready for whatever gruel they were serving this morning. In this weather they'd all prefer something cooler, even their water was luke warm at best, but if you could get a decent meal before a battle, you did, but not something that would sit too heavy and rich in your stomach.

So gruel it was.

As he sat at one of the long tables in the tent, two hunters wandered over, settling across from him. Jasen Qarr and Njonx Dral picked at their own bowls for a minute before Jasen finally worked up the courage to address him.

“ _Su cuy'gar_ , Torian. So more assault teams today?” Jasen inquired as Torian looked up at him. 

Torian shrugged. “That's up the Mandalore, but I suspect so. We've been at it a few days and there's still heavy resistance. If we're going to take the factory, it will take a pounding to do it.”

He knew why they were asking him. Over the two years he'd worked his way up in the ranks of Mandalore's advisers, and she pulled him into most meetings these days. His work with the Champion of the Great Hunt, after he'd killed Jicoln, had brought a lot of honor to clan Cadera. He knew there were a few who might be interested in being adopted into the clan, including the two young men sitting across from him.

On one hand, it made him prouder of his clan. Clan Cadera had a future now, but it wasn't the future he and his _riduur_ had originally planned. In some ways this victory seemed more hollow without her there.

He finished his bowl and rolled his shoulders, one a bit stiff from a fight yesterday when he'd lead one of the assault teams on the factory. “I'd get kitted up sooner than later,” he suggested. “You'll probably be called in soon.”

“ _Ret'urcye mhi_ ,” Njonx said to him as Torian nodded to the two and headed out. He needed to check with his unit from yesterday, review injuries, and report them to Mandalore so they could plan who would be in what strike teams for today.

Supposedly the Outlander would be arriving today, and hopefully it would be more than just pounding at the walls of the factory. Everyone's morale needed a boost. Torian wasn't sure that an outsider would really bring a boost to the Clans, but Mandalore seemed more hopeful, and if there was anything he'd learned over the past few years, Shae Vizla had a fairly good head for battle, and if she thought this Outlander might bring them an edge, she was probably right.

He spent the rest of the day in camp, Mandalore wanting him available for whenever this Outlander showed up. There'd been one dead in his squad yesterday, and two serious injuries, but otherwise most would be back in fighting shape within a day or so. It could have been a lot worse.

He was in the medic's tent, reviewing the injury report on the two critical injuries when Jasen came jogging in.

“Torian, Mandalore calls. The Outlander's shuttle just landed.”

“ _Vor'e_ ,” he replied to Jasen, then handed the data pad back to the medic and headed for Mandalore's war council. 

The Outlander stood with her back to him, armored form advising him it was a human or near-human woman. The blue and gray armor wasn't painted in any familiar patterns, but he could tell it was _beskar._ That made him wonder, since so few outside of their own people would be wearing _beskar_. He could tell the armor had been repainted, older patterns submerged under new layers of paint and buffering. The armor had seen use, that was certain. The woman had a gray and blue helmet tucked under one arm, and a blaster pistol at each hip. 

The blue ponytail sent a strange sense of remembrance through him. Not many human women had blue hair. His _riduur_ had, but Kandakke Lok Cadera had been half Chiss.

“Then we fight together Mandalore, against Zakuul and the galaxy. We'll topple Arcann yet,” there was a familiar cadence to the words, like a long submerged memory dancing across his mind. The confidence in the tone reminded him very much of Kandakke, and for a moment his heart ached.

“Torian!” Mandalore called him in as she saw him coming through the front of the tent.

He nodded to Mandalore, but his eyes were on the Outlander. He saw her shoulders tense a moment, and then she whirled around.

Torian's eyes went wide at the sight of his _riduur_ before him. This had to be some kind of sick joke. He hadn't seen her in five years, yet here she stood before him. The implant over her left eye and the implants along her cheek were scuffed, but the same long claw marks that ran from forehead to chin shown on her skin, familiar scars he used to run his fingers over in their private time together.

“ _Riduur_ , beloved,” the words spilled from his mouth before he realized he was speaking, and he felt momentarily frozen.

~~

Kandakke Lok Cadera, called the Outlander, the Commander of the Alliance, scowled as she stood at the ship's exit, waiting to land on Darvannis. Theron had seemed downright smug in their last conversation before the shuttle had left Odessan. While in the meeting with everyone present he'd only given the assurances that their would be allies had the firepower and manpower necessary for this and wouldn't stab them in the back, he'd given her a few more private assurances on her comm afterwards.

For whatever reason, Theron was convinced if anyone could convince these people to help the Alliance, it would be her. She wasn't sure to be more annoyed or amused at his confidence.

As she stepped off the shuttle, though, Kandakke felt a familiar sensation, like a favorite memory slipping back over her. Her first clue was the armor worn by those she passed. Like her, they wore _beskar_ , and she hadn't seen so much _beskar_ in one place since the last time she'd seen her _buir_. Could it be?

As she stepped into the command tent, a redhead she hadn't seen in years turned to face her.

“Shae Vizla. I wasn't expecting Mandalorans,” Kandakke said, but as she said it, she saw a sense of welcome on one or two of the faces around the table. 

She felt a momentary stab of grief when she learned Artus Lok was dead. Her _buir_ had been a good man, but at least he'd died in battle. That was all a Mando could really ask for.

She began to feel more enthusiasm as she spoke to the new Mandalore and her advisors. With Mandalorans at her side, taking the droid factory seemed far more doable. 

“Torian!” Shae Vizla's voice cut across Kandakke's thoughts, and she found herself whirling around to see a very welcome sight. 

He looked older, but then she'd been locked in carbonite for five long years. He looked good, better than she remembered, and her mind raced through her memories of their time together.

“ _Riduur_ , beloved,” Torian's tone was shocked.

“Torian...I know how long it's been, but I never forgot you.” Then Kandakke was yanking his head down to hers and kissing him with all the passion of five pent up years. He returned the embrace and kiss with a certain urgency, but they both knew they were in the middle of Mandalore's command tent, and reality intruded upon them once again.

“I never thought you would,” Torian replied, a smile quirking his lips and his eyes. 

And when they went into battle at each others' side, it was like five years of loss and separation melted away. Torian fell into sync with her easily, and he knew they had each other's six again. With each encounter, each blast of her pistols and the firing of his rifle, the fact that she was actually with him again became more and more real.

And if it wasn't and this was all a dream, he hoped never to awaken from it. 

When the warriors were caught in the firing zone, they both knew the call they had to make, and they would remember the fallen.

Finally they were able to report back to Mandalore. Khomo Fett urged them to come and celebrate with their brothers, but Torian had something else in mind, and from the look in his wife's eyes, he knew she did as well.

For a few minutes, they both stood awkwardly, discussing the past five years. Torian felt a surge of anger when he realized his _riduur_ had been kept as a trophy by Arcann, and he saw the flash of shame in her eyes at it, but he knew her actions since then had restored her honor.

“Forget the victory party, lets be alone,” Torian said in her ear. 

He saw a familiar answering heat in her eyes as she put her hand in his and the two of them walked away from the tent, away from the celebration. They heard their brothers and sisters shouting, “Oya!,” but they ignored the calls for them to come and join the drinking.

By default they ended up in her ship, alone at last as the door sealed shut. 

Finally, alone, she let her shoulders drop, burying her head against the _beskar_ on his chest, no matter how uncomfortable it might be, and held him tightly. “Five years...five kriffing years. I'm so sorry, Torian.”  
Torian felt anger rising, but not at her. “That isn't your fault, _Riduur_ ,” he replied, lifting her chin to kiss her again. He growled the next words. “The Eternal Empire stole five years from us, five years when I should have been at your side and you at mine...five years to build our family and our clan.”

“Believe me I will help,” she said against his lips. “ _Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Riduur._ ” She deepened the kiss.

“ _Riduur_ ,” he groaned against her lips, the fact that they hadn't been this close in five years rearing its head.

Neither of them were ever casual with their armor, so while they might want to strip each other and leave a trail of armor to the bed, they both settled into the cabin and removed their kits swiftly and efficiently, until both wore only their pants and shirts, and even that was too much. In a heady rush of words, whispered pleas of _Gedet'ye, Gar serim, Riduur, Cyare, Cyar'ika_ , they fell back onto the bed, scrambling much faster this time to disrobe each other and feel skin against skin for the first time in five years.

~~

Kandakke came awake in a jolt, sitting up in bed and staring around in the dark, breathing hard. The memory of seeing her crew die, the dreams that had haunted her in carbonite sleep, drifted through her mind. 

She shook her head. Gault was back on Odessan, as was Blizz. She didn't know where Skadge was and she didn't care. Mako was missing.

But as she turned her head to look at the warm body beside her, and the much loved blond head, she relaxed. She let herself curl back against him, and felt Torian pull her flush against his body, an arm snaking around her.

“ _Riduur? Kandakke?_ he asked in the dark.

“Dreams,” she said as she turned her face into his neck. “From when I was trapped. “It's been five years, but you will always be my _ka'rta_ and my _kot_.”

“And you are mine,” Torian whispered into her hair. He ran his fingers through those much loved blue strands, letting himself wonder again after so long if their children would have their mother's blue hair and green eyes, or his blond hair and blue eyes. With her pressed against him again, it felt safe to think about that future, and imagine the children they'd once talked of having.

Clan Cadera could be rebuilt, but more importantly, his _ka'rta_ was beside him again.

“We should probably sleep,” she murmured as she felt him shift against her, but neither of them took that statement too seriously as she turned into his kiss. They would get some sleep....eventually. Tonight was about their reunion though, and renewing the vows they'd given each other so long ago.

Tonight was about them.


	2. Flight Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the reunion between the bounty hunter and Torian, as there's more to a reunion that the first night.  
> My muse decided there was more for Torian and Kandakke to discuss on the flight back to Odessan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SWTOR belongs to Bioware and EA.  
> Mando'a translations available on Wookieepedia: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mando'a/Legends

“Ret'urcye mhi, Mandalore,” Kandakke echoed Shae Vizsla’s words before she and Torian made there way out of Mandalore’s command tent.

The relief she felt as she followed Torian towards his old quarters to grab the rest of his belongings was palpable. Her mission in acquiring the Gemini droid had been successful, but more important to her personally was having Torian fighting at her side again. Even if they were separated by battle and missions, she knew he was alive and fighting, and it filled the aching void in her heart that had been there since Lana had first freed her from carbonite.

Mandalorians didn’t waste a lot of time on teary goodbyes. Their exit from the camp was filled more with celebration at taking the factory, and more “Ret’urcye mhi”s than anything else. 

Sometimes Kandakke felt she could better express her thoughts in Mando’a than in Basic.

Boarding her ship and the pre-flight check didn’t require many words between Torian and herself. They fell easily into old patterns, and only once the ship was in the air and flying through hyperspace did Torian address their new situation.

“So, Commander of the Alliance?” he asked, and she understood his meaning immediately. It felt so good to have someone who understood her without needing to ask complicated questions.

“Since we hit Odessan, yes,” she replied, turning in the pilot’s chair to look at him. “Escape from the Spire was one thing, then hitting the swamps. Would have been good hunting if we hadn’t been hunted. But Arcann, or his forces, were there, tracking us, all the way to Asylum.” Kandakke felt a shutter run through her at that memory. She’d been foolish to trust Valkorian at all, and the result had been thousands of innocent deaths. Hadn’t she learned anything from Ziost?

“What did he do to you?” Torian asked, and she heard the growl in his voice.

“He isn’t there right now, but at first, until I ran into Darth Marr and Master Satele on Odessan, he was there, a presence in my head, aware of what I was doing, but unable to act…at least at first, unless I gave him the outlet.” She hung her head in shame. “I thought – why not use the weapons at my disposal? I shouldn’t have. It let him take me over, once, against my will, and I will never live down the result.”

She felt Torian weighing her words, his blue eyes unreadable for several minutes.

“You work to regain your honor now?” Torian asked at last.

“I work to undo the wrongs he’s done, and by doing so, regain my honor,” Kandakke said, her head snapping up. 

She saw a faint smile flicker over her riduur’s face then, and felt some of the tension leave her. Torian reached forward and tugged her up from her chair, pulling her firmly into his arms, armor and all, and pressed his lips firmly against her own.

“Cyare,” she whispered, leaning back against him. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.”

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum,” he replied, staring down into her blue eyes. Torian felt the same relief he’d first felt at seeing her in Mandalore’s command tent two days ago sweep over him. When Mandalore had accepted his request to act as the Mandalorian representative among the Alliance, and the one to guard the Alliance Commander’s interest in the Mandalorians, he’d been pleased. 

He’d answered Mandalore’s call, as any Mandalorian would do, and it had eventually reunited him with his Riduur. Whatever else they faced, whatever else they’d been through, they were both where they belonged now.

“We have a few hours before we reach this Odessan, yes?” he mused as he buried his face in her blue hair and inhaled her scent. Even after the night before, he felt himself reacting again. One night wasn’t enough when they’d been separated for over five years.

“Yes, and I don’t know that a few hours would be enough to tell you everything that’s happened,” she replied with her lips against his neck.

“Then the telling can be strung out over nights,” he replied. “Right now though,” he hissed softly when he felt her shift against him. “We need out of this armor,” he finished.

“Agreed, Cyare,” Kandakke laughed softly and lead him back to her, no, their, quarters.

~~

In the quiet afterwards, with her head resting on his chest and him running circles along her back and over her scars, he considered their present. This joining hadn’t had any of the heady urgency of the first night. They’d taken their time relearning one another until they were both pleased.

“So how will the Alliance react, to you bringing in the Mandlorians?” he asked curiously.

Kandakke mused over that question as she looked up at him, her fingers lightly tracing his facial scars for a moment before she replied. “It’s a hodgepodge. Republic, Imperial, Zakuulian, and more neutral parties, all coming together for a single purpose. There will be some jostling, there is every time we bring someone new in, both most of them trust my judgement.” Her mouth thinned into a line. “Though I expect that Lana may make another remark on the Mandalorians. She considers me biased regarding our kind.”

Hearing her say “our kind” again warmed him. She hadn’t been born a Mando, and she’d had a learning curve, but he expected she’d almost always held to a lot of the same ideals, else Braden never would have recruited her for the Great Hunt to begin with.

“We’ll watch her, cyar'ika,” he promised. 

“Koth may balance her out a bit,” Kandakke replied. “And I’m usually inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt…I wouldn’t be alive without her, not with the carbonite poisoning me the way it was, but she needs to trust my judgement.”

“All she has are tales,” Torian said. “She doesn’t know Mandos the way you do.”

Kandakke nodded, the anger slowly leaking from her expression. “There are some Cathar on base,” she mentioned, shifting so she could meet his gaze. “They tolerate me, I tolerate them, but then I condemned what happened on Cathar, all those centuries ago. Wasn’t our clan, but they’ve got a long memory.” She shook her head. “Wasn’t right, said as much to Jorgan.”

“Jorgan?” Torian inquired, lifting one blond brow.

“Former Republic Major, leads Havoc squad and some of our ground forces,” Kandakke replied. “He’s been a drinking buddy over the past few months.”

“And you respect him,” Torian made it a statement.

She nodded. “I do. I’ve seen him in action. We respect each other, our dealings are built on that.”

“I can understand that,” Torian nodded slowly. “Though I’ll make my own judgements once I meet him, and the others.”

She cocked a grin at him. “You always do.” Her expression turned tender. “One of the things I love about you Torian, you judge people on their merits, not just on who they are.”

“Wouldn’t be a Mando otherwise,” he shrugged. He glanced at the time piece on the table nearby. “Still have another hour or two before we have to get ready to land.” He rolled her over until he was leaning over her, his body pressing hers back into the mattress. “I intend to make the most of that.”

She responded with a kiss as he made good on his word, just like he always did.


End file.
